Yaga Burundi

Yaga brings together Burundi’s best bloggers and influential change-makers from across the political and social spectrum. Yaga in Kirundi means 'to tell' or 'to share a story'. Since its launch in 2015, the platform has grown to become an alternative civic space in a challenging media environment.

The Yaga team also implements offline activities, mainly in the form of debates, in Bujumbura, the country's largest city, but also in areas like Gitega, Ngozi, Cibitoke. Politicians and decision-makers actively participate in Yaga events and engage in dialogue with young people. Yaga is a leading platform for non-polarised unbiased information for Burundian youth to engage on the issues that matter to them.

Highlights of 2019

Motion design and explainer video

Yaga was the first media producer in Burundi to use motion design after trainings from journalists from Le Monde. Motion design is a video production method using animation techniques and offers a safe and innovative way to communicate in a politically sensitive context.

With motion design, Yaga can avoid working with real Burundians who could be recognised and face subsequent challenges. Its visual quality also makes it more accessible for young people who are less literate. These videos are all made by young Burundian cartoonists, bloggers and video-makers. The first example triggered a high level of interest and was shared more than 800 times.

Winner Award for Innovation

Yaga Burundi took second prize in the Francophone Awards for Innovation in the Media. The awards recognise innovative approaches to new ways of accessing and consuming information and are open to all media outlets in the 57 member states of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF). Presenting the award, the Secretary General of the OIF said: “This prize for innovative media makes it possible for us to honour the talents that are able to reach large numbers of young people. Access to quality information is a value we need to protect.”

Yaga Burundi
in 2019

Web users

314,504

(44% women users)

Website

1,174,103

page-views

Social Media

72,671,873

content impressions

Twitter

13,294

followers

Facebook

230,340

fans

Facebook

1,639,624

video views

Facebook

243,356

instant articles

Instagram

22,733

followers

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“When they put a topic on the agenda, it's always with the participation of the person who is responsible for it, and they spend time investing in a relationship and don’t criticise just for the sake of it but actually talk about how we can improve constructively. Their approach is open, positive, and lets each side express themselves with the seriousness of the debates we're taking part.”